Gun mount



Aug. 31, 1926. 1,598,004

C. L. y PAULUS GUN MOUNT Filed June 9. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 31,1926.

C. L. PAULUS GUN MOUNT Filed June 9. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles uZ606 Patented Aug. 3i, ltlZti.

rea m error.

CHARLE L. PAUL'US, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

Gun Mon-n51.

Application filed. June 3,

This invention relates to machine gun mountings more particularlydesigned for use upon airplanes or similar vehicles and of the lzindcomprising an elevating arm or bracket upon which the gun is mounted andwhich is carried by a horizontally rotatable member.

One object of my invention is to provide a mounting of the kind referredto in which a plurality of elevating arms are separately pivoted to agun supporting member in order to aid in the easy manipulation of thegun.

A second object is to provide a tumbler support for the gun which ispivotally sup ported from a plurality of movable arms so that theangular position of the gun is varied as the arms are moved.

Further objects are to provide a means for selectively locking orreleasing either the arms or the rotatable ring as desired withoutreleasing the other, unless such a release is intended; to provide meansfor locking the arms capable of taking large strains due tothe weight ofa large gun; and to provide a fulcrum for a large gun upon its center ofgra ity and very close to its line of recoil.

Other objects will be more fully set forth he attached specification andclaims, and the drawings, in which in t Flg. l is a perspective view ofin v the gun r 2 is a vertical side elevation partly in verticalsection, of Fig. l and showing the in dotted lines in. one position.

3 is a plan view of the gun. l is a sectional view through one ofsupporting arms showing the lock-open sting member or grip in detail,and

5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

A tired ring 1 supports the movable ring 2 by means of the rollers 3,the movable ring being shown as of channel formation. Upon this movablering or rotatable training member 2 are 1 gidly fastened reinforcingrings 3 and i by rivets or any other suitable fastenings means and thesereinforcing rings pivotally support arms and 6 by means of the ln'ackets7 and 8, respectively. Upon these arms 5 and 6 is mounted a tumblercasting 9, the arm 5 being pivotally mounted on the casting 9 by meansof a suitable bearing 10 and the arm 6 being pivotally attached by meansof the bearing member 11 to this tumbler casting.

The arm 5 has an effective length shorter 1923. Serial No. 644,455.

than the arm 6 and the arms are pivoted on parallel axes on the trainingring at. points removed a considerable distance which is greater thanthe distance between the pivotal connections of the arms to the tumbler,the whole arrangement serving to adjust the angular relation of thetumbler as the elevating arms are moved, both of the arms serving todivide the weight of the gun and the recoil of the gun between them.lVith the gun in the position as shown in Fig. 2, the arm 6, would belocated substantially horizontal and the arm 5 would be at a slightangle and above arm 6. In thisposition the tumbler would be so tiltedthat the gun would point straight down over the side, of the fuselage.ll hen the operator manually nulls upon the arms to raise the gun, thetumbler is moved and tilted at the same time it is raised so that whenthe arms are positioned as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, withthe arm6 now above the arm 5, the gun would be pointing practically straight upinto the air. In this'posit-ion, the recoil would be taken mostly by thearm 5, but a considerable part of it would also be taken by the arm 6.Similarly inany other position the recoil of the gun would be taken byboth of the arms. since, one cannot move without moving the other.

The tumbler casting 9 which is provided with suitable lightening holes12 is provided with a hole in the end thereof at a point considerably.removed from the bearings 10 and 11 of the arms 5 and 6 and this holeserves as a bearing for a pin on the member 13 so. that the member 13 ispivotally connected to permit a slight rotation of the gun about theaxis of the hole. is fork-shaped, a member of the fork extending alongeach side of the gun and each fork member being pivotally connected to aplate or strap 1d by means of suitable trunnions- 15. These straps arerigidly connected to the gun by means of bolts 16 which pass throughlugs provided. on the gun. The machine gun which is designated by thenumeral 17 is supported by these trunnions 15 in such a manner that thetrunnions 15 are substantially in alignment with the center of gravityof the gun. The center of gravity of the gun being above the forkedmember 15, when the-gun is in a horizontal position. The line of therecoil of the gun would also be located so that it would be very closeto the line of'the axis of the trun- The member 13.

nions l/Vith the gun supported in this manner. a slight movement ot thegun is permitted about the axis of the trunnions 15 which is ahorizontal axis; as well as the slight movements about the axis at rightangles to this horizontal axis. These two movements of the gun areprovided for so as to allow the gun to be quickly and readily adjustedafter the gun has been adjusted to its approximately correct position bythe elevating arms and rotatable training ring. With the support for thegun close to the 'center of gravity and the'line of recoil, a

minimum amount of efi'ort is required on behalf of the operator inadjusting the gun and in holding the gun when it is fired and with thegun mount on the fork 13, a considerable distance away from the bearings10 and 11 of the arms on the tumbler the rear end of the gun will alwaysbe 11mintained within easy reach of the operator and yet never bepermitted to crowd him too closely. ,A link and shell ejection bag 18may be attached to the lower portion of the machine gun and'will vbelocated within the outlines of the tumbler block as more clearly shownin Fig. 1. This bag is constructed of canvas or other suitable materialand is used to hold the shells and links as they are ejected from thegun.

In Order to compensate for the weight of the gun, I provide a springcompensator 19 on each side of the training member. Each compensatorconsists of a casing 20 pivotally F connected at 21 to the supportingbracket 8,

the axis of the elevating arm 6 being aligned with the axis of thecasing 20. Within the casing is'a spring 21 which is between the head 22of the casing and a head, 23 on the end of a rod orplunger 24.Thisspring serves to normally'force or tend to force the head 23 andplunger 24 to the right, (see Fig. 2). As the head 23 is moved or forcedto the right, the force exerted by the spring would be decreased. Therod or plunger 24 is pivotally connected at 25 to thelever 26 which ispivoted at 27 to the training ring 2. The lever 26 is constructedintegral with a segmental gear 28 which is provided with teeth meshingwith the teeth of a segmental gear 29 upon the end of the elevating arm5, the elevating arm 5 being pivoted at 30 to the bracket 7 on thetraining member 2. The arrangement is such that as the force exerted bythe spring 21 decreases, due to a counter-clockwise movement of thelever 26 in Fig. 2, as the gun is elevated, the effective lever armthrough which this spring forceis efiective, tween the pivot 27 and therod 24, increases. In the position as shown in Fig. 2 a great force isexerted by thespring through a comparatively small lever arm but whichis nevertheless sufficient so that the weight of the gun would bepractically balanced by which is the distance be-.

the two com aensatin sarin 's. A suitable guard 31 is provided inorder-to prevent the clothing oi the operator from becoming entangledwith the segmental gears mentioned.

The training ring 2 is locked in any desired position to the fixed ring1 by means of a pin 32 operating in a hole in the training ring 2 andwhich is adapted to engage a series of holes 33 in the fixed ring 1. Thepin 32 is attached to a bell crank lever 34 by a pivotal connection 35,the bell crank lever being pivoted at 36 to a suit-able lug on thetraining ring 2. A spring 37 is provided 3-lin the position shown inFig. 2 in which the training ring 2 is locked to the fixed ring 1. Sucha locking 'pin is provided on each side of the training ring and areadapted to be sinniltaneously operated by a cable 38 which is attachedto the upper end of each bell crank lever 34 and which extends withinthe hollow elevating arm 6, passing around a guide pulley 39 which isrotatably mounted on the elevating arm 6 in a fixed position. The cablethen passes part way around a pulley 40 which is pivotally mounted upona movable hand grip 4-1 after which the cable passes around a pulley 42which is rotatably mounted on the arm 6 in a similar manner to thepulley 39. The cable then passes through a suitable eyelet in aninternal wall of the elevating arm 6, and then passes to the other bellcrank lever 34. The hand grip 41 is provided with a plurality of slotsl-l within which operate pins 45, one at each end of the hand grip, thepins being provided on lugs 4E6 made integral with the elevating arm 6.Suitable slots 47 permit the; rip to move inwardly toward the arm 6without interfering with the pivots of the pulleys 39 and In theposition shown in Fig. 4:, a tension is maintained upon the cable 38 bythe springs 37 of the bell crank locking pins and this cable tension issuflicient to maintain the hand grip away from the arm 6 as shown inthis figure. hen, however, the grip is operated by the hand of theoperator exerting an inward force upon the right-hand end 01" the grip,the pulley 40 will operate in moving relatively to the pulleys 39 and4:2, to pull upon the two ends of the cable 38 and release the lockingpins 32 simultaneously so that the training ring 2 will be permitted tomove when the hand pressure is released from the right-hand end 01": thegrip. The springs 37 maintain the cable 38 against pulleys 39, l0 and 42and return the pins 32 to their locking positions.

In order to lock the gun in its elevational movements in a verticalplane, I provide a fixed transverse member 48 extending from one side tothe other and fixed to the ring 2. Within this transverse member ispivotally mounted at 4-9 a socket member 50 so as so as to maintain thebell crank lover lit) to be movable about a horizontal axis. Thissocket. member is interiorly threaded for the reception of ascrew-threaded rod 51 which is held at its upperend by a socket 523which is pivotally mounted by means of trunnions 53 mounted in bearingmembers 5 1- which are in the side plates 55 of the tumbler block 9. Thesocket member 52 is permitted to move freely about a horizontaltransverse axis parallel to the axis of the pivot 50 so that as the gunand mount are moved from the position shown in solid. lines in Fig. 2 tothe posit-ion shown. in dotted lines, the screw threaded member or rod51 may be permitted to pivot about horizontal axes at each support so asto as sume an inclined position, as shown. The threads 51 are of quite asteep pitch so that when the gun is manually elevated the threaded rodwill freely rotate about its own longitudinal axis, threading itselfalongthe socket member 50 without requiring any substantial physicalexertion on the part of the operator, the rod 51 being permitted at thistime to freely rotate at its upper end within socket member 52. Lockteeth 56, of which six are shown, are provided at the upper end of thethreaded rod 51, the upper and lower surfaces 57 and 58- of these teethpreventing the rod 51 from moving longitudinally in relation to thesocket member 52. A spring-projected plunger 59 is adapted to be pressedby the spring 60 so as to be engaged between two of the teeth 56 inorder to prevent the rotation, when desired, of the threaded rod 51 andthereby prevent the longitudinal movement of the rod 51 in relation tothe socket member 50. In the position as shown in Fig. 5, this plunger59 is in its normal locking position preventing the rotation of thethreaded rod 51. A. cable 61 operating within a tube or casing 62, isattached to the locking member 59 at one end and at the otherend isattached to a lever 63 at the point 6 1. This lever 63 is pivotallymounted at 65 to the elevating arm 6 and is provided with an end 66adapted to operate against a fixed pin 67 in the left-hand end of thehand grip 11 so that when the spring 60 has forced the locking pin 59 toits locking position, then the end of the lever 66 will be forcedagainst the pin 67 and the left-hand end of the hand grip will be forcedaway from the elevating arm 6. YVhen it is desired to unlock thethreaded rod 51 the left hand end of the hand grip ll is pressed towardthe elevating arm and the pin 67 and lever 63 will. cooperate to rotatethe lever about its axis 65 and pull upon the cable 61. Either end ofthe hand grip 41 may be operated without correspondingly changing theposition of the opposite end in order to operate one side only of thelocking device, or, if desired, by grippingthe part 41 at its center,

both ends of the grip may be simultaneously moved inwardly to unlockboth sets of look-- ing devices at the same time by a simultaneous pullupon cables 38 and 61. Either end of the grip may be released first orboth ends maybe'released at the same time as desired.

It will be seen that I have provided a mount which is extremely wellsuited for large guns where the gunis of an unusual length, it isextremely desirable to provide a tumbler such as I have described and tomount the gun at the end of the tumbler so that the rear end of the gunwill not be in the way of the operator. The elevating arms 5 and 6 andthe threaded locking rod 51 all serve to take the strain of the recoiland all help in supporting the gun in a stationary position. Theoperator, when it is desired to chan e the direction of the gun in avertical plane, places one hand upon the hand grip and the other uponthe rear end of the gun and applies a comparatively small force to theelevating arm, after having first unlocked the threaded locking rod. isso balanced by the compensat'ng springs, that it is very easily handled.A ring 68 is attached to each side of the elevating arm 5 at a pointremoved from the pivotal mount of this arm 5 upon the training ring 2.The operator fastens his safety belt to these rings by the usualfasteners on the belt and the weight of the operator being thrown uponthe belt, may be usedat any time to assist him in changing the directionof the gun.

I claim 2- 1. In a flexible gun mount the combination with a mountingring support, of a plurality of angularly related elevating arms pivotedto said support to move about parallel spaced axes and assumevariousangles relatively to one another, a part pivotally connected to both ofsaid arms and means for adjustably connecting a gun to said part.

2. in a flexible gun mount, the combination with a rotatable trainingmember, of a plurality of elevating arms pivotally connected to saidmember to move about horizontally spaced parallel axes, a tumbler uponwhich a gun is adapted to be supported, and means for pivotallyconnecting said tumbler to both of said arms so that the angularposition of the gun is changed as the arms are moved.

3. In a gun mount, in combination, a rotatable training member, a basemember upon which said training member is rotatably mounted, a pluralityof elevating arms of unequal length pivoted to said training member, gunsupporting means mounted on 1 said arms and adapted to adjustablysupport a gun, two sets of locking devices, one for locking the trainingmember and the other for locking the arms, a single hand-operatedcontrol member, and means connecting said The gun control member andlocking devices so that the sets of locking devices may be selectivelyoperated or so that both sets of locking devices may be simultaneouslyoperated.

4. In a gun mount in combination, a rotatable training member, a basemember upon which said training member is rotatably mounted, anelevating arm pivoted to said training member, a second elevating arm otshorter length pivoted to said training member, gun supporting meansmounted on saidarms and adapted to adj ustably support a gun, atransverse member fixed to'said training member, and means for lockingsaid arms in adjusted position comprising rod adjustablyinter-connecting said transverse member and said gun supporting meansand means for locking said rod in anydesired position.

5. In a gun mount in combination, a training member, a plurality of armsof unequal length pivoted to said training member, means adapted toadjustably support a gun and supported by said elevating arms, a springcompensating meansconnected to one of said arms to compensate fortheweight of the gun and acting upon said arm through varying effectivelever arms, the force exerted by the spring means decreasing as theeffective lever arms through which it acts, increases. a i

a 6. A gun mountas set forth in claim 1,

said gun being connected to said part at a point distantly removedtoward the gun muzzle from both of said pivotal connections between thepart and the arms, 7. A gun mount as set forth in claim 1, said partserving as a tumbler and said arms being suitably bent and of suitablelengths so that the angular position of the gun is determined by theposition of the arms.

8. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2,

together with means for locking said tumbler with relation to saidtraining member. 9.The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together withmeans for locking said tumbler with relation to said training membercomprising a rod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, atransverse member on the training member, adevice pivotally connected tosaid transverse member and operably connected to said rod so as toadjustably interconnect the said rod and transverse member, andmechanism for locking said rod to said device to hold the tumbler andarms in adjusted position.

10. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means forlocking said tumbler with relation to said training member, comprising arod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, a transverse member onthe training member, a device within which said rod is threadedpivotally connected to said transverse member and operably connected tosaid rod so as to adjustably interconnect said rod and transversemember, and'mechanism for locking said rod to said device and to preventrotation of said rodto hold the tumbler and arms in adjusted position.

11. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means forlocking said tumbler with relation to said training member, comprising arod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, a transverse member onthe training member, a device within which said rod is threadedpivotally connectcd to said transverse member and operably connected tosaid rod so as to adjust ablyinterconnect said rod and transversemember, and-mechanism for locking said rod to said device and topreventrotation of said rod to hold the tumbler and arms in adjusted position,and a weight compensat- Ing device comprising a member operablyconnected to one of said arms and exerting various forces on said armthrough various etlective lever arms, the forces decreasing as theeffective lever arms increase so as to approximately counterbalance theweight of.

the gun.

12. A gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with meansforcounter-balancing the weight of the gun comprising a lever geared toone of said arms and mounted on the training member, a rod connected tosaid lever and exerting a force at various distances from the mountingof the lever on the training member, and a spring engaging said rod andexerting various forces thereon. i i

13. In a flexible gun mount in co1nbination, a fixed base, a rotatabletraining member adjustably mounted thereon, an elevat' ing arm pivotallyconnected to said training member and adapted to support a gun, a

locking device for said elevating arm, a locking device for saidtraining member, and a single means on said arm for selectivelyoperating either of said devices or for operating both said devicessimultaneously.

1a. A gun mount as set forth in claim 14, in which said means comprisesa hand grip, a cable, means operably connecting said cable to one endofthe grip, a second c his, and means operably connecting said secondcable to the other end of the grip. each cable being connected to alocking device.

15. The gun mount as set forth in claim 14 in which said means comprisesa hand grip, a cable, means operably connecting said cable to one end ofthe grip, a second cable, and means operably connecting said secondcable to the other end of the grip, each cable being connected to alocking device, and means for interconnecting said grip and elevatingarm so that either end of the gripmay be moved towards said arm withoutcorrespondingly moving the opposite end of the grip.

16. A flexible machine gun mount for aircraft, comprising a support, aring rotatably mounted on said support and a plurality of supportingarms of different effective lengths pivoted to said ring and a gunsupporting tumbler pivoted to said arms.

17. A flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 16, together Withmeans interconnecting said gun and tumbler and permitting vertical andhorizontal pivotal movements of said gun in relation to said tumbler.

18. In a flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 16, saidtumbler providing a pivot connection for said gun below the center ofgravity of the gun, at a point removed from the said arms.

19. In a flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 17, theeffective lengths of the arms being such that the gun is pointeddownwardly by the tumbler at one extreme position and pointed upwardlyby the tumbler in the other extreme position.

20. In a gun mount in combination, a training ring, an elevating armpivoted to said training ring, means adapted to adjustably support a gunon said elevating arm, a spring compensating means connected forcompensating for the Weight of the gun comprising a lever geared to saidarm and mounted on the training ring, a rod connected to said lever andexerting 'a force at various distances from the mounting of the lever onthe training ring, and a spring engaging said rod and exerting variousforces thereon, the force exerted by the spring decreasing as theeffective lever arms through Which it acts increases.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES L. PAULUS.

